A Day In The Life,
by AMusicAddict07
Summary: Syn Gates one-shot, how does Brian deal with the changing music industry?


_A Day In The Life_

_Brian rolled over in his king-size bed to see his alarm clock beep incessantly, grunting he turned it off by hitting the top until he hit the button. He rolled back onto his back and rubbed his face, all he could think was 'urggg' because his hangover was spectacularly painful this morning. He had drunk way too much last night, he knew when he'd gotten to Johnny's that he wouldn't leave sober but every time Matt warned him of just how much he was drinking he'd tell him to fuck off. He'd been drinking way too much since his divorce came through, at the time he saw it as celebration but really it was out of frustration. He loved music, he always had but it wasn't the same these days. It felt like they only toured and made albums for the money. The internet and intrusive fans made his life a living hell, the guys loved it but it was really getting to Brian. He brushed his hair out of his eyes and sat up in his bed, as always he slept in just sweatpants because his house was right by the beach so most mornings he'd get up, have a shower and some breakfast then go for a walk. He looked over at the nearly empty bottle of vodka he'd been keeping by his bedside for a few weeks now, for once he didn't drink any and climbed out of his bed. Pinkly let out a disgruntled yelp as he pushed her off the bed, it wasn't his fault, she'd snuggled into his sheets and hadn't seen her. She ran over to sit by his feet and he leaned down to pick her up, he took the bundle of white fluff into his arms and kissed her head roughly. Pinkly cuddled into him and he walked out of his bedroom, looking around at the state of his house he wrinkled his nose. He'd not cleaned for weeks and the empty bottles and condom wrappers littered the floors, groupies had been very useful lately, they were more than willing and he needed some company. He walked down the staircase and through the living room into his kitchen. He'd bought the house when Michelle decided she'd move in, it was much larger than he needed but she'd insisted on it. He put down his dog and found some food and put water in a bowl for her and set it down by the back door, opening it let in a massive breeze of sea air. It hit him like a slap to the face and he gasped, it wasn't cold but you could literally taste the salt in it, maybe a swim wasn't the best idea. He made himself some black coffee and waited for a while then drank, it was still scalding hot but he knew he needed to get some food, even though he wasn't eating much he knew the band would come over soon and they would notice the lack of food. He'd kept up the pretence that he was fine really well so far and didn't want it ruined now, he poured himself another mug and began walking upstairs to take a shower. He put the mug down in his office knowing it would cool down while he was in the shower and strolled into his bathroom. Stripping off the sweatpants he got into the shower, he just stood under the running water for a while thinking about their new album. The record company had insisted on them having a producer in and it was killing them, every new idea they had 'Steve', uh he even couldn't stand his name, would shoot it down and tell them what they had to put in the song. It was their first album with out Jimmy so it was hard enough and this guy was making it worse, going there every day was crushing his soul until he flipped yesterday._

_The day before..._

_"Hey man, what if we try just bass in this part. It'll sound really edgy!" Brian smiled over at Matt who grinned back and jumped up to find Johnny, Brian was humming the new melody he and Matt had just come up with, then Steve walked back in with Matt who looked really sullen._

_"Matt said you wanted to try just bass in the pre-chorus?" He said eyebrow raised, Brian looked to Matt who was standing behind Steve and he just shrugged, he looked back to Steve and said, _

_"Yeah, why?" Steve sighed and said, _

_"I thought I told you, we need to have all you play the pre-chorus?" _

_"Yeah you did, I just thought we could try it." _

_"Well there's no need, it's good the way it was." He turned on his heel and stropped out of the room leaving a fuming Brian and Matt, _

_"Dude I am fed up with him. Everything I say he gets all bitchy." Matt looked over at his friend who was holding his head in his hands._

_"I know man, every one's annoyed about it." _

_"Seriously Matt, I can't take it anymore." He stood up and threw the sheets on his lap to the floor, Matt just stood there not saying anything because he knew Brian of all of them was fed up with Steve. He'd taken Jimmy's passing the worst, they were all best friends but Brian and Jimmy were the closest, the divorce had made him worse, they hadn't wanted to mention it because they knew he'd just storm off and get hammered. Brian walked over to the door, picked up his bag and stormed out slamming every door behind him. He got into his car and drove off way over the speed limit, he pulled into his drive and slammed the car door shut not bothering to lock it because he had already decided to go to Johnny's. He opened his front door and pushed it closed and went upstairs, discarding his vengeance university t-shirt on the stairs he walked straight into his bedroom and found a sleeveless shirt that seemed clean. He didn't really care, as long as it fit him and didn't smell to bad it would do. He went back downstairs and saw his dog sleeping in her basket, he grabbed the last beer out of the fridge, twisted the cap off and let it drop on the floor and went back out to his car only stopping to lock the front door. He kept the beer in one hand placing it inbetween his legs when he needed to change gear, sipping it when he slowed down. He got to Johnny's and ordered four shots of double vodka, downing them with out taking a new breath._

_Back to today..._

_That was all Brian remembered of last night, all he knew was that he kept drinking, he didn't even know how he'd gotten home. He got out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his hips loosely and strolled into his bedroom, choosing a clean vengeance university shirt, black shorts and a pair of black flip flops. He went back downstairs and grabbed a black back and went around his house picking up the debris of the past few weeks and throwing it in the bag. It took two bags in the end and he put them by the front door. He spent five minutes looking for his car keys but looking outside his house his car wasn't in the drive either so he must have left it at Johnny's last night. He grunted and ran a hand through his dishevelled hair sighing, he walked out his house not even being able to lock the door because his only house key was with his car keys. He picked up the black bags and put them on the pavement so they could wait for the rubbish men and set off walking to Johnny's to find his car, it wasn't far. It took him all of fifteen minutes and sure enough his car was outside, he had to knock loudly on the door for a few moments before Johnny let him in. He started teasing him about how drunk he'd been last night but Brian just held his hand out for his car keys and Johnny finally realised he wasn't in the mood for jokes and handed over the keys. He mumbled a thanks and walked out, getting into his car and drove to the nearest grocery store. As soon as he got there a few fans recognised him and asked him for a photo, he happily accepted and posed for a few pitures. The fans were what made recording the album bearable, they wouldn't tell him how to play and what was right and wrong for the album. When they asked about how recording was going he halfsmiled and lied,_

_"Yeah it's going really well thanks." They grinned and ran away in excitement squealing about how they'd just met him and he walked into the store smiling. At least somthing had made his day a little better._

_He did the shopping quickly, grabbing what he needed and things he knew the guys liked. When he was done he handed over his card and paid for his grocerys, he had six bags full and grabbed four and went out to open his car, he went back in for the other two, thanked the guy behind the till and left. He chose the scenic route home, he loved his hometown, it was beautiful. He drove past Huntington High School and saw the yard were he and they guys used to talk about the band. Those were the days he had enjoyed the most, he could literally see Jimmy run around tormenting everyone. He smiled a little, he missed his best friend so much, he knew that if he was here Jimmy would be telling him to get off his lazy ass and come out down the beach. He drove back to his house and unlocked the door and went back to the car to get the bags. He put them all on the counter top and saw a little red light flashing telling him he had messages on his answer phone. He knew they'd be either Matt, Johnny, Zack or Arin, he knew it wouldn't be Steve because he'd refused to give that man his house number. He pressed the button and set about unpacking them, the recording told him that he had four messages and carried on to play them. _

_"Hey Brian, it's Matt. Look dude, I knew yesterday was bad but we spoke to Steve and told him to lay off us so much and he said he would. It'd be awesome if you could come in today." The box clicked to signify the end of that message and began playing the next one, _

_"Brian, it's Steve. The guys spoke to me and asked me to lay off you so much. In my professional opinion -" The machine cut off because Brian picked it up and threw it across the room into the wall. It crumbled into a few pieces and Pinkly ran to him yelping, he picked up the terrified dog and buried his face into her fur, sighing he leant away and took the new bottle of absinthe out of the brown paper grocery bag and carried Pinkly upstairs. Laying her on his bed and sitting propped up against the headboard he chugged the rest of the vodka before opening the absinthe and taking a hearty glug. The last sober thought he had was 'I'll stop drinking tomorrow.'_


End file.
